Summer is the season that begins a rewrite for the characters in these stories.
“The Amateur” by Chris Bohjalian
From bestselling author Chris Bohjalian (“The Flight Attendant”) comes an engrossing psychological thriller about a teenage golf prodigy whose life is upended when her stray practice drive kills a young caddie. In the aftermath, the affluent suburban community goes from mourning a tragic accident to focusing on an escalating investigation and trial of guilt and criminality.
Mira’s reputation as entitled and previous history as a rebellious teen make it easy for her to elicit harsh judgments. And when a shocking affair with a married man her father’s age is exposed, trial pressures intensify as the prosecution weaponizes this against her. In a keen example of victim-blaming, the ready condemnation of Mira as a teenage homewrecker belies the reality of an exploited 15-year-old who was groomed years before by a predatory man. The public scandal changes the course of her life.
In this coming-of-age novel written as a memoir of Mira as a middle-aged woman, the author crafts a gripping narrative that explores how society’s superficial perception of someone ignores the reality of who they really are. Decades later, Mira carries guilt for two things: the caddie’s death and the family she believes she broke apart — yet her memoir will reveal whether that blame was hers to carry. From country club to courtroom, Bohjalian’s insightful portrayal of shifting blame and guilt shows how understanding the difference can change everything. Affecting, and with a startling ending, this book is hard to put down.
“Dolly All the Time” by Annabel Monaghan
Annabel Monaghan hits peak form in her latest summer read, “Dolly All the Time,” an official “Good Morning America” Book Club Pick.
Down-to-earth single mom Dolly — a caregiver who never complains about her responsibilities — returns home to coastal Rhode Island in the summers to help her aging dad and impaired brother run their family’s fish shop. When she happens on the handsome, wealthy scion of the town’s wealthiest family stranded on the road with a flat tire, she changes it for him. A snapped photo of the incident circulates and misidentifies them as a new couple. Their meet-cute hatches a mutually beneficial fake-dating contract for the summer. She — cash-strapped and fearful of losing their family home — will be paid; he — seeking damage control from a public breakup — will shore up his image as he vies for a promotion.
The fastidiously groomed prince charming, who has a hard time having fun, might loosen up, while Dolly may even enjoy treating herself to society galas and sunset yacht sails, while donning a new look and wardrobe. A transformative pretend-relationship ignites real feelings. With a flair for spinning a Cinderella-like story, Monaghan’s likeable characters and funny banter will get you on board for a romantic happy ending in this sweet and charming rom-com.
“Beginning Middle End” by Valeria Luiselli
Shift over to literary fiction with this novel translated from Spanish by Mexican author Valeria Luiselli, about a writer and her precocious young daughter who embark on a trip to Sicily.
Still grappling with a difficult divorce, the mother travels to ponder the new reality of her family. Her own mother, who is now suffering from memory loss, gives her an artifact that was passed down from her great-grandmother through the generations of the family’s women. The ancient mosaic tile depicting the mythical shape-shifting Greek god Proteus was pocketed by her great-grandmother from a Roman archaeological dig in Sicily, where she worked disguised as a man to earn a place on the site.
Mother and daughter spend the trip debating what to do with it: do they possess a good luck charm or cursed stolen property that should be returned to the ruins? As the duo ventures towards the site itself — Mount Etna smoldering in the distance, their own lives just as unsettled — the question becomes a way to better understand each other. Luiselli’s prose is subtle in this esoteric portrait of a mother and daughter trying to hold on to their family’s past, while moving forward with the promise of new beginnings.
